Watch Trailer For ‘Can’t Feel Nothing,’ CPH:DOX Film On Social Media

EXCLUSIVE: One of the films making its world premiere at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen asks questions relevant to anyone who uses social media: “Who is pulling the strings when the internet makes us angry, sad, horny or just plain indifferent?”

David Borenstein’s documentary Can’t Feel Nothing uncovers the trolls, AI companies, Russian TikTok influencers, Chinese virtual romance entrepreneurs, and assorted others skilled in the art of provoking strong emotions in the social media landscape – and in many cases, profiting from it.

One expert observes in the film, “I feel sorry for mankind. The telephone has hijacked your brain, your mind. You’re not yourself anymore.”

The film premiered Friday night in the F:ACT Award section of the festival. We have your first look at the film in the trailer above.

Borenstein, a Florida native based in Copenhagen, not only directed and co-wrote the film, but serves as the on-camera guide throughout. He says in the trailer, “For every emotion we have, there’s somebody really good, on the internet, manipulating it.”

Borenstein expanded on the film’s themes in a director’s statement, writing, “I seek to create a voyage through the emotional landscape of the digital era, structured in chapters dedicated to a variety of emotions. Making use of the rare access afforded to me through my day job as a tech journalist, I showcase a global cast of characters who both commodify and exploit the entire spectrum of human emotions.

“My aim was to rethink the concept of a science documentary, moving as far away from the traditional format as possible. By employing visual storytelling, metaphor, dark humor, and unforgettable characters, I seek to engage audiences in a reflective journey on the nature of our emotions in the digital age.”

It’s also an extremely funny film. Some of the laugh-out loud sequences in Can’t Feel Nothing feature a digital dominatrix, “Mistress Harley,” who can get men to willingly humiliate themselves at her command. For instance, one such man, at her instruction, repeatedly smacks himself in a very sensitive area of the male anatomy.

In another part of the film, we see beautiful young Chinese women undergo training to become online romantic bait for men, soliciting donations from their admirers. One of those “customers” (if that’s the word) – a wealthy young Chinese guy — readily admits to “donating” $75,000 to his online honey. He comments (in words I found equally poignant and pitiful), “I do think that virtual relationships can replace real-life relationships.”

Yet another man in the film has gained a following by consuming mass quantities of liquids and foods (like a big ol’ bowl of raw eggs) that make him hurl.

There are political ramifications to the digital reality Borenstein is exploring. He also explores online operations that deliberately manufacture fake news, and he interviews people exposed to these stories online who have become true believers in cockamamie conspiracy theories. There are real-world implications for our politics, to say the very least (for more on this topic, see Karim Amer’s The Great Hack and Jeff Orlowski-Yang’s The Social Dilemma).

At a Q&A following the world premiere, Borenstein said he doesn’t see his film as prescriptive – he’s not trying to “offer solutions” to the troubling aspects of our immersion in social media. In response to an audience question, he said, “The role that I see myself as having is just to get people to think and reflect. So, I think what I’m trying to do is to create a space in which people can reflect on something. Hopefully it’s entertaining. Hopefully it gives people a lot to think about.”

Can’t Feel Nothing is directed by David Borenstein and written by Borenstein and Christian Einshøj. The producers are Mikkel Jersin, Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen, and Jesper Jack. The documentary is a production of Snowglobe Films (The Worst Person in the World, A Chiara).

Watch the trailer above.